A WKR Film Review: Jens Pulver | Driven

Earlier this year, in August, I spoke to filmmaker Gregory Bayne about then upcoming film "Jens Pulver | Driven".  Although it's not yet shipped, the film was made available to those who contributed, and I was among those people.  I had high hopes judging from Bayne's past documentary "Person of Interest", I really enjoy his artistic style, and how he paints the story he wants to tell.  Jens Pulver is a pioneer of the sport, and has accomplished a great deal up to this point in his career.  The documentary follows Pulver through his training camp for what would become his last fight in the WEC against Javier Vasquez at WEC at WEC 47, but there's a great deal of focus on Jens Pulver's history as a human being.  

Pulver comes from an abusive home, that saw him and his family take lashings verbally, and physically.  He found comfort in sports, particularly wrestling, which then grew into a love for mixed martial arts.  Although there are some truly heart wrenching moments in the film where Jens speaks of his family and past struggles, we see a beautiful contrast between Jens and his father, where he is everything his father wasn't for his family.  Loving, caring, sober.  In a world where society believes the abused become abusers, Jens Pulver stands, with what truly appears to be a happy, healthy family. 

The film also shows Pulver's age catching up to him, but his heart aching to be successful.  In one instance, he describes to his wife how he knows what to do, but his body won't follow his brain's lead.  He gets teary eyed, and asks, "When am I ever gonna learn?"  My heart didn't want to keep watching, knowing the results of what would come at the end of this show...or after.  Since the loss to Vasquez, he went and fought at the "War on the Mainland" event, where he lost by guillotine choke in the first round to Diego Garijo, who held a record of 4-1 at the time.  

It's rough being a Pulver fan, but the film gives a keen insight to who he is as a person, and as a fighter.  It's a joy to watch, and is a must show to anyone who is a fan of "Lil Evil", the sport, or good films.  For information on the film, check out the official website.  After the jump, one of my very favorite scenes from Driven.