An uplifting melodrama, shot in an exotic locale, just in time for Oscar season? Yep, it's Lasse Hallström, director of ''Chocolat'' and ''The Shipping News'' — although the gentle helmer waves away any suggestion of a movie formula. ''I would really prefer to shoot in New York, because that's where I live,'' chuckles the Swedish transplant. Nevertheless, the American West, not New York, is the backdrop of ''Life,'' which tells the story of a rancher (Robert Redford) who must come to terms with his son's death after his troubled daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez) arrives with a little girl who happens to be his grandchild (Becca Gardner). Hallström actually shot his reported $30 million film in northern Canada, just as Lopez's personal life was imploding last year. ''She seemed absolutely cool about [her] ongoing debacles,'' the director reports. ''There must have been some pressure, but I think we all enjoyed the hiding spot we had in Canada.'' Hallström promises a ''slightly different Redford'' than audiences are accustomed to. ''I shouldn't say more,'' he says. ''That will be my teaser.''
WHAT'S AT STAKE Talk about unfinished lives: The legendary Redford has never won an acting Oscar.
