I really liked this film. To be honest, it was quite a painful experience to watch and I may have cried a bit, but it was touching and sweet and Ryan Gosling's actually a really great actor, as it turns out, which I never would have expected from Murder by Numbers.
The score was absolutely beautiful, the direction was lovely. And yeah, all in all, I just really, really liked it. It was slow moving, not much happened, it was neither outrageously funny, nor heartwrackingly full of angst, but I like those kinds of stories. I love understated, quiet angst, that isn't about obstacles being thrown at protagonists, but is very much about the vagaries of life; and this was most definitely that.
Also, I tend to respond well to stories where I can identify with the main character. And hell, even our names could sound similar, depending on the accent.