Standard pseudo intellectual Alcoholic Of course the acting and direction was top notch, but the story has been seen numerous times before. John is smarter and definitely studlier than most. The hot women can't leave him alone, be it the nurses, the hot pilot or the fellow paraplegics. His story is probably no different than millions of others that made mistakes early in life, he just gets to have many more woman due to his intelligence and wittiness.
The cinematography was great, however I grew up in the 70' and it wasn't as depressing as this movie makes it out to be. Jonah Hill is a natural in his roll. Overall, a good movie, not a great movie.