The constant cigarette smoking schtick was not a plus

Marlowe's smoking is an omage to Walter Neff and Sam Spade, among others. The great noir heroes all smoked constantly. Much of this film is reference to classic films noir. It is Altman's update and reinterpretation of film noir.

It's meant to reinforce the idea that Marlowe is a walking anachronism. He chain smokes through the whole film, and nobody else smokes a single cigarette. Marlowe, as portrayed by Gould, is a man wandering through a decade that he doesn't exist in. The car, the suit and tie, the smoking...he's, as Gould and Altman say, "Rip Van Marlowe"...when he wakes up at the opening, he isn't waking up from the night before, he waking up from 1953.

So, "It's okay with me."

Please watch at least 20 film noirs of the classic period to understand that these films take place in a different era from the repressed and politically correct times we find ourselves existing in today.

Chain-smoking, along with the consumption of a lot of alcohol, are staples of film-noir. If the viewer finds that "distracting", one might suggest staying away from these usually second feature, B picture, crime dramas.

It was not a "schtick". Read one Chandler novel and keep track of many times the iconic shamus lights up a Camel. This viewer loves it when Marlowe strikes a match on the wall of the Wade's Malibu home. "It's ok with me."

How unfortunate that the OP cannot fully enjoy the art presented on the silver screen.

...too forced and obvious, making the whole thing visually clumsy throughout.

Watch some older movies --- They smoke in every scene, and there's always booze

YOU don't like smoking --- Don't smoke -- Who are you to demand NO ONE can smoke especially in a movie

YOU are going to judge a movie or a character based on their smoking??? Grow Up