It had a very uneasy quality about it, perhaps a film noir or avant garde element to it.
Your idea of him giving the finger to the nanny staters makes a lot of sense...particularly considering that rather sarcastic grin he slowly developed at the end. Either very strange or very clever.
Mark Block addresses smoking role in latest Cain video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxd28bBqtBE
Much ado about nothing :-)