Sandra Bullock is in top form in this exuberant romantic comedy in which she plays Loretta Sage, a historian who writes best-selling romance novels in which the heroine experiences adventures in exotic locations with her lover, Dash. Now still grieving the loss of her archaeologist husband five years prior, Loretta has been sent on a book signing tour by her manager, Beth (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, giving her both barrels).

Bad enough for Loretta that she has to leave her apartment where she could happily stay forever, but she has to go on the road with Alan (Channing Tatum), the hunky, chisel-jawed model who appears as Dash on the covers of her books. and, says Beth, attracts young people. “It always shines everywhere,” Loretta complains sardonically.

But real danger arises when the petulant son of a media billionaire, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) kidnaps Loretta and takes her to a jungle island in the middle of the ocean where he believes there is ancient treasure. that she – and her knowledge of the runes – will help find him.

Alan, who fantasizes about being the hero Dash, goes to save Loretta after asking for help from a real badass, ex-Marine SEAL Jack (Brad Pitt); Alan just can’t match this alpha male, but he will try. Odd couple Loretta and Alan bicker, then bond as they try to outrun and outwit the bad guys, with banter and a wink at the audience. Bullock is a regular at this scholarly comedy, while Tatum has perfected his dark but beautiful act.

Pitt is also on board, happy to poke fun at a career aided by his good looks. “Why are you so beautiful?” Loretta asks him, dazzled. “My father was a meteorologist,” he replies impassively.

Screenwriters Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Oren Uziel and Dana Fox work in nods to films such as Romancing the Stone, Raiders of the Lost Ark and even The African Queen (although Katharine Hepburn never looked adoringly at Humphrey Bogart’s bare buttocks as she removed the leeches from it) but it would be a mistake for a reviewer to look for deeper meanings in the film, and viewers shouldn’t not because it’s supposed to be good ol’-fashioned fun either. The Nee Brothers, who also direct, keep things going, and the laughs matter a lot; there’s a lot of comedy in Bullock spending most of the film in a sparkly purple jumpsuit.

Aside from an end credits scene that barely elicits a smile, let alone a laugh, The lost city is a hoot.