'New Year New Movies!' movie review: 'Taking a Shot at Love'

A dance instructor helps an NHL star get back on the ice in the romance 'Taking a Shot at Love' (premiering Jan. 2 as part of The Hallmark Channel's New Year New Movies! event).

In short: Former professional dancer Jenna (Alexa PenaVega, 'Picture Perfect Mysteries') uses ballet to help injured professional hockey player Ryan (Luke Macfarlane, 'Just Add Romance') recover from a lingering injury that threatens his career.

In the spirit of new beginnings, 'Taking a Shot' excels in capturing the spirit of a fresh start. Jenna and Ryan find themselves confronting the very real threats to their dreams. A nagging ankle injury threatens to keep Ryan permanently on the bench, while Jenna is losing students, threatening the future of her dance studio.

After 'Taking a Shot' sets everything up - the movie stalls out in its first half. It's all set-up for the movie's second half - which is another way of saying the story doesn't really move forward and the characters don't get a lot to do. Through most of the first half, the movie is basically just likeable jock bro Ryan stumbling and fumbling this way through the basics of ballet, while Jenna patiently impresses the virtues of ballet, while a competing studio swipes her students.

While the film has a long wind up, 'Taking a Shot' wonderfully prioritizes romance over all else. Yes Ryan and Jenna's future is uncertain from the outset, the movie lets Jenna rub off on Ryan and Ryan rub off on Jenna, allowing each to show the other a different perspective. Everything is in service is letting the hygge-loving dancer and the laid-back pro athlete fall in love. The best Hallmark romances keep the focus on the characters, without getting tripped up with tangled plot threads.

PenaVega and Macfarlane are a pitch perfect duo. PenaVega embodies a quiet resolve - a determination that keeps Jenna moving forward, even as the situation looks increasingly dire for her studio. Yes, she is warm and charming - but most importantly PenaVega imparts a muted inner strength in Jenna, that doesn't just make her "likeable" - it makes her admirable. This movie could have easily taken a lazy, uninspired arch with Ryan and made him scoff at ballet as not "manly" - but the script balances his initial skepticism and his eventual deep respect for ballet. The always great Macfarlane keeps Ryan totally empathetic - he's a "fish out of water" (in the sense that he's utterly out of his element in a ballet studio) and he just wants his old life back. And it's pretty fulfilling to watch his initial apprehension give way to admiration.

Final verdict: 'Taking a Shot' wholeheartedly embraces trying something new and finding an unexpected new beginning - and tying it all together with a heartwarming romance. If only the first half was as strong as the second half, then 'Taking a Shot' would easily be one of the best Hallmark films of 2021.

Score: 3.5 snowflakes (out of 5)

'Taking a Shot at Love' premieres on The Hallmark Channel on Jan. 2 as part of the New Year New Movies! event. The movie is rated TV-G and has a running time of 90 minutes.