Adam Sandler

You could blow "Bulletproof" out its socks with .22 blanks, that's how weak it is.A ninth- or 10th-generation clone of "48 HRS.," all those years ago, it's thinly imagined and pedestrianly engineered chase melodrama about a black guy and a white guy, one a cop, the other a crook, who find they have more in common than not, and bond to bring down a really nasty villain. Main difference between then and now: this time through, the cop is black and the crook is white.The two guys are potentially amusing but the screenplay is so naked in its manipulation of emotion that it feels infantile.

There's 10 minutes' worth of really funny stuff in "Billy Madison," about enough for one of star Adam Sandler's skits on "Saturday Night Live." If you've seen the trailer, you're one up on those of us who have endured the entire film.One can see where "Billy Madison" might have been successful. The premise, while not altogether fresh, has potential for cuteness: twentysomething Billy (Sandler), in order to prove he's worthy of taking over his father's hotel empire, must go back to school and pass grades 1 through 12 in just six months.

"Airheads" is a likably breezy film that should prove successful with its target audience and even bring more than a few smiles to the face of someone much older.Three frustrated L.A. rockers, desperate to get air time for their demo tape, inadvertently take over a rock radio station because they happen to be carrying water pistols that resemble Uzis. What kind of guy still plays with water pistols? Guys like Chazz (Brendan Fraser), Rex (Steve Buscemi) and Pip (Adam Sandler), who aren't too bright.

* Research Support Instruments, based in Hunt Valley, has acquired the Airdyne product line of spin balancers from the MRC Chamberlain Corp.Koren Furniture has announced the expansion of its Route 40 showroom to more than twice its original size.Treasury Management Association has endorsed proposed legislation to remove barriers to interstate and intrastate branching by depository financial institutions.Doubletree Inn at the Colonnade has unveiled its latest entry in exotic hotel accommodations -- the Cheetah Suite, decorated in a jungle motif to herald this endangered species.

New accounts* Crosby Communications of Annapolis has been chosen to design and produce the annual fund direct-mail campaign for the University of Maryland College Park.* Stanton Communications will provide public and media relations for the Maryland Preakness Celebration.* Ecological Restoration and Management, based in Towson, was awarded a contract to restore more than 50 acres of wetlands and terrestrial habitat in the Altoona, Pa., area.Name change* Bormel, Grice, Huyett, Maresca & Mooty, P.A., formerly Pear, Fagan & Bormel, P.A., will celebrate 25 years as a full-service Baltimore-Washington accounting firm, and will now be known as Bormel, Grice & Associates.