Periodically, there comes a movie with a premise and such charm that the brain doesn’t seem to mind discarding all logic.

In “National Treasure,” we’re told that the Founding Fathers of our country, as members of the Free Masons, buried a treasure that was transported across the ages over land and water. The location of said treasure is never revealed explicitly, but clues are distributed across icons of American history — the biggest clue being on the back of the Declaration of Independence.

The result of a spectacular plot, credible acting and amusing dialogue among the actors makes for a very enjoyable — albeit surprising — evening at the movies. Anybody entering the movie with preconceived notions about the traditional Jerry Bruckheimer action film will soon be debunked with the friendly and likable characters and focus on interesting and engaging situations. The filmmakers should be commended for restraint and the refreshing lack of vulgarity and mindless violence.

What’s truly shocking is the rating for “National Treasure.” It’s rated PG. The traditional action and witty one-liners are still present, but the slam-bam, seizure-inducing, incoherent editing is, happily, nowhere to be found. The production is uniquely light on action, or at least what is expected from a movie like “National Treasure.” Instead, the spirit of adventure carries this film.

The movie starts out with a flashback to a young Benjamin Franklin Gates, sitting with his grandfather, enthralled by the tale of family legacy of protecting the secret of a long-lost treasure. The movie travels from hidden ships to treasured documents and historical sites. The rest of the film is following riddles and clues in a race against time and against the villain, and once friend to Gates, Ian Howe. Howe is played here by English thespian Sean Bean, whose resume is filled with roles of questionable character (Boromir of “Lord of the Rings,” 006 of “GoldenEye”).

“National Treasure” is clever fun for the family, but especially so for art and history buffs, as the movie is riddled with references to snippets of historical incidents and myths. In tradition with other adventure movies where the protagonist is an academic, like 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and this summer’s “The Day After Tomorrow,” a historian, in this case, saves the day once again with brains before action.

There is more here than an intriguing idea. It’s a generational tale of fathers and sons, of ambitions and contentment, and the quest for dreams, some of which end prematurely, while others never die. It is in fact, a family film. Jon Voight plays Gates’ father, Patrick, as a man who gave up treasure hunting to have a life outside the shame of the family name; he was shamed and riddled with failure after failure, all resulting from the quest for the treasure. The younger Gates takes the mantle that the elder once took up in his youth.

Perhaps the appeal of this movie across generations and genders is that the movie plays to the fears and joys of people; the fear of never obtaining a lifelong goal and the joy of achieving those goals. Dreams and ambitions sometimes fail, and we’re then left to linger on our failures. The filmmakers have given the public a spiritual booster for all dreamers. How cool would it be to follow a treasure map?

Even after reaching that destination, only to find the treasure’s long gone, it’s sometimes just getting there that’s as important as all the gold across history’s fabled past.