I did not hate this movie and I actually rather enjoyed it. The thing that drove me crazy though was the fact that Maggie was suppose it is so poor but yet she could afford cigarettes. I found that very distracting and annoying.
For what it's worth, cigarettes used to be extremely cheap before the government got their sticky fingers in the pie, and imposed massive taxes on tobacco products. The cost of a pack of cigs during the films time period would have been inconsequential.
Guessing the setting was in the sixties and is when I started smoking. A pack of premium cigarettes was 20¢ which is a penny a cigarette. You could smoke even cheaper buying generic or non premium cigarettes. Even cheaper buying pouch tobacco and rolling your own. Also smoking suppresses one's appetite thus can save on food costs. Also it seemed everyone smoked back then. I remember the tobacco companies handing out free cigarette packs on my college campus. My father was in the military and part of his "rations" were two cartons of cigarettes each month.
Using an inflation calculator a pack of cigarettes costing 20¢ in 1960 should cost $1.60 in 2015 though the average cost of a pack of cigarettes is now $5.51. That's the massive taxes you mentioned.
He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.
I see homeless people smoking cigarettes. No matter how poor you are, if you're a smoker, you'll find the money for cigarettes. That's just the way it is.
Smokes in Canada cost about $12 a pack or so. We make the same on average as Americans so exchange rate doesn't matter on the pack unless you're a tourist. Now that is hefty tax. Our health care isnt free. ?