From a simple concept of finding your own individuality, to the convoluted conception of young love and the increasingly intricate study of the bonds and breaks between a mother and daughter, “Whip It” is more than a mere comedy, drama, or standard motion picture. It’s a wholesome, honest, and authentic glimpse into the breaking away of a teenage girl from suffocation to what her own name implies — Bliss.

This is easily Hicks’ best film since the Oscar-winning “Shine” way back in 1996 (since then his work has included the admirable but uneven “Hearts in Atlantis” and “No Reservations”), and much of the allure comes from Clive Owen’s complex performance. As a man learning how to function as a single father after the death of his wife, Owen shows great liveliness but also a natural vulnerability.

The second screenplay from Diablo Cody following her debut smash “Juno” is so chock full of her quirky trademarks, it almost plays like a parody of something she’d write. The self-consciously clever dialogue, the gratuitous pop-culture references, the made-up phrases intended to convey a specific high school ethos — they’re all there.

Despite their roughhewn appearance, the resourceful rag dolls in “9” obviously were crafted with great love and care, both by the scientist who made them in the film and the mastermind behind them in real life, director Shane Acker. If only as much complex thought had gone into the script. The animation is so breathtaking in its originality, so weird and wondrous in its detail, you wish there w ere more meat to the screenplay from Pamela Pettler, who previously wrote “Monster House.”