“…Describing a plot with the basic formula elements is usually the best means to that end…” – Yet in this case, you find said formula insufficient? – How so? Why?

“…From FADE IN to FADE OUT, the computer program doesn?t know the difference…” – My memory, obviously, is vague on the details (some 25 years later…) – I stand corrected on this. In that case, as you suggested, the inciting incident is the advertisement for the new computer game.

“…He?s too eager, too impatient to wait for the game?s official release. So he hacks into what he believes is the company computer with the new video game…” – And what characteristic allowed him to think he can get away with it? I’d say arrogance. You could argue that his other flaw is impatience, but that’s universally recognised as a symptom of youth… and as such, it’s not so much a flaw as an essential part of being a teenager.

“…Arrogance is not/has never been a feature of Matthew Broderick?s screen persona…” – So what? He’s an actor and can, therefore, act arrogant. Following your logic, Christoph Waltz couldn’t possibly have played a kind hearted doctor who mentors a black slave into being a law-abiding bounty hunter in Django, seeing as he played an evil, racist, psychotic killer in Inglorious Bastards. To that matter, nor could Sir Anothny Hopkins have played a sociopathic cannibal in Silence of the Lambs if he played a nurturing and benevolent doctor in the Elephant Man. I won’t go on.

David’s flaw gets him (and almost the rest of the world) into trouble, however, by the end of the story he knows he can but shouldn’t hack into other people’s computers – lesson learned.

“…Even if I accepted the characterization of arrogance, I think his cleverness is of greater dramatic interest…” – We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one – cleverness is not something you NEED to overcome, arrogance is. Cleverness may make his character interesting, but his arrogance makes his story interesting and by extension, his character endearing.

“… But after considerable study and movie watching, I no longer subscribe to the rule that the protagonist ? and only the protagonist? ? can own the critical?character arc, the one on which the outcome of the plot hinges…” – True.

“…So the film seems to violate the rule that the protagonist must own the character arc as well as the action line. In ?War Games? the two are split…” – Not so, both Falkner and David change for the better – in my mind, the changes each of them undergo amplifies the experience of the story.

“…So my unorthodox opinion is all your fault, Karel!…” – LOL!
However, it’s not unorthodox, and by no means is possessing a flaw a hard and fast rule. Many protagonists in successful movies, over the years, lacked flaws – mentioned above is Django, but also; Forrest Gump, Superman, Wonder Woman, the list goes on.

In this case, for me anyhow, the flaw is glaring and plot enabling. In my youth, my friends and I would pride ourselves on ‘hacking’ computer games (these things were easier in the 90’s than today) – our arrogance allowed us to do so with our morality intact – because we were able to do something we felt compelled to do it. Now, as an adult, I wouldn’t dream of it – I’ve been on a hero’s journey and learned my lesson.